Grant Tinker

TV movers & shakers

Meow. The meager cry of a kitty cat — the logo of MTM Enterprises — was a symbol of innovation, quality and patience in the 1970s and ’80s.

Grant Tinker, with then-wife Mary Tyler Moore, formed the shingle in 1970 and went on to produce such skeins as “The Bob Newhart Show,” “Lou Grant,” “The White Shadow, “Hill Street Blues” and “St. Elsewhere.” Tinker’s formula for success was nurturing writers and allowing them to be creative without network interference.

NBC, which struggled throughout much of the ’70s, brought Tinker on board as chairman-CEO in 1981 to work with Brandon Tartikoff.